


Familiarity

by imawarlock



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:04:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7737034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imawarlock/pseuds/imawarlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin, Levi thought, before he could walk, and before he even knew what words meant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [我好像在哪见过你](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11278119) by [shentu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shentu/pseuds/shentu)



> cross-posted from my tumblr...basically me trying to make myself feel better after 84 ;___;
> 
> after that and all the new info we've gotten...i really do believe erwin and levi are soulmates <3

_ Erwin.  _ Levi thought, before he could walk, and before he even knew what words meant. 

_ Erwin.  _ He kept thinking, while he grew older and bigger and well into his teens, persisting despite his confusion and frustration, and the desperate longing that came with the struggle to figure out who he was. 

_ Erwin, Erwin, Erwin.  _ The name repeated in his mind over and over, continuing after he'd accepted that there was something lacking in his life, that he needed more, that even if he didn't understand it he wasn't whole. 

24 years old and incomplete, Levi was, lonely and wracked with repetitious thoughts of a single name:  _ Erwin.  _ Who was he? Levi didn't know, but he was convinced that he was the missing piece to his puzzle, that whatever this void in his chest was, he was the answer to filling it. Nothing about it made sense, but Levi had come to terms with that, and knew that he was not crazy, but just different. He also knew - deep down in his very soul - that whoever this Erwin was, he was out there, and Levi wanted to find him. 

He felt an urge to do so in a way that he couldn't explain, that came to him with the belief that it would be the right thing to do. He felt like he was meant for it, but how would he? The world was a big place, full of people and places and oceans to cross, and it wasn't like he had any money to his name. Just the logistics of it made him feel hopeless, but luckily, it turned out to be much, much easier than he would have thought. 

One night, Levi had a dream. A dream of waves crashing into white sand, of a tall, blonde silhouette standing at the shoreline.  _ Erwin _ , he thought. Was it him? While the scene faded around him, Levi spoke the name out loud, calling out to him in a voice that seemed to echo through time and back to another life. He knew it was true when the man heard his voice, when it went from a question to a desperate, watery, and fearful plea for his survival, and when Erwin turned around to face him and was suddenly clutching a bloody, jagged hole in his side. 

It hadn't been like that before, and the next thing Levi knew he was waking up in a cold sweat, shivering with emotion from an incident that he'd never experienced. Tears ran down his cheeks and he was gasping for breath, and for one second when he ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror, he somehow expected to see blood all over his face too. It wasn't there, but what was instead was a certainty that Erwin was important to him on a level he couldn't fully comprehend, that he was bound to him and that it had been that way before he was even born. 

In addition to that, there was the beach. The beach that Erwin had been standing on, and where Levi somehow knew he could find him. He felt sure about it, and almost immediately spent half his rent money on a train ticket to the closest place where the ocean met the shore - five hours away, but seemingly nearby when he thought about how large the world was. 

All during the ride he was nervous and jittery, fearful that, despite the certainty he felt that he would find Erwin there and that they were connected somehow, once he arrived he would just think that Levi was a completely unknown stranger. He couldn't help but worry that would be the case, finding himself wondering if Erwin felt the same yearning in his chest for a man he'd never met, or if he'd spent sleepless nights with Levi's own name rattling around in his head like he’d done.

What would he do, if Erwin hadn't? Levi didn't know that either, but still he pressed on, exiting the train and walking briskly to the beach with his eyes wide and his head down. His heart was pounding in his chest and his stomach was in knots, and it only got worse when he reached the sand and looked all over, scanning the benches and the area near the shore for a blonde silhouette. Rather than that, though, he saw nothing but seagulls and empty dunes, and after several walks up and down the beach - it was a small beach, and it was cold out - he began to feel panicked. Had he been mistaken? Was he wrong about all of this? What if he  _ was _ just crazy?

On the verge of tears, Levi turned, preparing to get himself off of the beach as quickly as possible. Only, before he could, though, he stopped, his breath catching in his chest when he saw him. 

_ Erwin.  _ He thought, his eyes going as round as saucers in his shock. He was standing a few feet directly behind him, frozen in place as if he'd been approaching only to stop when Levi turned around. He was staring with wide eyes too, the pair of them a beautiful blue that put the ocean at Levi's back to shame. For a moment, they both just gaped at each other, recognition and awe and relief crossing their features, until Erwin swallowed and finally spoke. 

“Levi.” He said, uttering his name with the same certainty that Levi felt blossoming inside him. 

The way he'd said it was enough for him to know that Erwin had dreamed of him too, that he'd spent his life longing for someone he'd never even met. The realization was too much, too reassuring when he’d felt so alone his whole life, and Levi couldn't help it: after a half second of hesitation, he surged forward, wrapping his arms around Erwin in a tight hug. He didn't know where the urge had come from, but it seemed right -  _ all _ of this seemed right - and before he could even doubt that he'd done the wrong thing by grabbing this stranger who wasn't a stranger, Erwin hugged him back, tightly. He held him close and clutched at him as if he didn't want to let go, and for the first time in his life, Levi realized, the yawning ache in his chest was gone. 

He didn't know how it could be, but it was. He was complete, suddenly; he'd found his missing piece. Erwin had filled it just by appearing to him, and although he still had so many questions, he knew, somehow, that he loved him. He felt it deep down in his soul, and was unable to deny it while he stood there in his arms and fondness and warmth swelled in his chest. It was strong enough to make him tremble, as was how familiar Erwin and everything about him seemed. His hair, his smell, the way his fingers rubbed at a particular spot on his back - it was new to him, technically, but somehow he recognized it, somehow, he thought, he had known this man all of his life without ever having met him. 

“I dreamt I would find you here.” Erwin said then, his warm voice washing over Levi like a wave.

The sound of it was more comforting than the gentle sounds of the ocean behind them, and somehow, it managed to calm Levi’s trembling, causing him to swallow and take a step back so he could take in Erwin’s face again. 

“Me too.” He answered too, feeling another surge of relief as he thought, again, that it was really him, and a pang of something else when Erwin gave him a watery smile. 

He was crying, Levi realized, just as there were still tears threatening to spill over his own eyes too. Somehow he’d held them back during his swell of emotion, but seeing Erwin like that too made it grow even harder, especially once he reached up on impulse to wipe away the wetness on Erwin’s cheeks. It should have been strange touching someone he’d just met, but it wasn’t - none of this was, in fact, as he was somehow completely comfortable around Erwin as if he’d been close to him for years. It was obvious that Erwin felt the same way, especially when he leaned into the touch, lifting a hand to grab one of Levi’s so he could wind their fingers together. He squeezed his hand, and it was only then that he seemed to have a moment of uncertainty at what they were doing, because suddenly he let go and took a step back, a stricken look crossing his beautiful face that made Levi’s expression twist in confusion. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” He started, only to stop when Levi reached out to grab his hand again himself. He swallowed and flushed, knowing, somehow, that he wanted that too, just as much as everything else. He wanted Erwin in so many ways, he thought, longed for him, in fact, enough to make his stomach flip nervously. Despite that, though, it still felt just as right as everything else, even more so now that he was certain that Erwin felt the same way. He’d been missing Levi in his life just as much as Levi had been missing him in his, and as Levi held his hand and stared up into Erwin’s eyes, an understanding seemed to pass between them that reassured Erwin and caused him to smile again. “Can I kiss you, Levi?”

The question should have sent Levi reeling, but it didn’t, not after everything else. Somehow he had actually expected it, and with happiness - real happiness, he thought - blooming inside his chest, Levi nodded, standing onto his tiptoes himself to meet Erwin when he dipped his head down in a rush to finally kiss him. His lips were warm and so was his embrace, and Levi felt himself actually smiling, feeling warmth and contentment right down to his very soul, even as the tears that he’d been trying to hold back all that time finally spilled over. 

Later that night, when they were lying in bed with their bare legs tangled and with the sheets wrapped around their waists, tracing the lines of each other's faces and re-learning what they somehow already knew too, Levi stared into Erwin’s blue eyes, asking one single question that he hoped he might have the answer to: “How?”

“Levi.” Was Erwin’s answer, a smile appearing on his face as he placed his hand over Levi’s heart. “I have a theory. Do you believe in reincarnation?”


End file.
